Consider the following statements:India has joined the Minerals Security Partnership as a member.Ind

Question

Consider the following statements:India has joined the Minerals Security Partnership as a member.India is a resource-rich country in all the 30 critical minerals that it has identified.The Parliament in 2023 has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 empowering the Central Government to exclusively auction mining lease and composite license for certain critical mineralsWhich of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

India has become 14th member of the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) in June 2023. The other member countries are United States, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Commission. MSP seeks to bolster critical minerals supply chains to support economic prosperity and climate objectives. Hence, statement 1 is correct. India’s Ministry of Mines identified a list of 30 critical minerals in November 2022. However, India has not yet proven domestic reserves for all 30 and remains dependent on imports for many such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and vanadium. Hence, statement 2 is not correct. The MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 has empowered the Central Government to exclusively auction Mining Leases (ML) and Composite Licences (CL)(prospecting licence-cum-mining lease) in respect of any ‘critical and strategic mineral’ specified in Part D of the First Schedule of the MMDR Act. Hence, statement 3 is correct.